1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to source control and process automation systems. In particular, the present disclosure relates to version control, regulated industry, development, qualification, process automation, and other applications and features.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Source control is also known as configuration management, version control, and change management. Source control is a discipline of making changes to source code in a planned and systematic fashion. The purpose of source control is to formally control the integrity of artifacts (items) and activities (tasks). In a source control system, objects are checked-out, edited, and then checked-in. Each time an object is checked-in, it is given a version number. Over time, a history of changes is created for the objects under the control of the source control system.
The items under control in a source control system include objects, such as control strategies. In object-oriented programming (OOP), objects are abstractions used in designing a program and they are also the units of code that are eventually derived from the design process. In between, each object is made into a generic class of objects and even more generic classes are defined so that objects can share models and reuse the class definitions in their code. Each object is an instance of a particular class or subclass with the class' own methods or procedures and data variables. Thus, objects typically exist in a hierarchy of objects with parent and child relationships. An object is usually a binary, text, or other type of file.
Process control systems are also known as process automation systems and are used to control and monitor complex processes in many types of industrial settings, including refineries, pharmaceuticals, power and chemical plants, and pulp, paper and printing mills. One example is Experion PKS™ available from Honeywell.
Different users of process automation systems have different needs in regard to source control of the application configuration in the control system. On one end of the spectrum are users that do not need to track any changes or versions. On the other end are users, often in regulated industries, that need very tight control over the change and version management of development projects.
There is a need for different levels of source control in a process control system that are capable of being enabled according to user need, such as manual source control, basic source control, and full source control.